Not Nearly Enough Horror Business (Some random tables)

Some Tables for Call Of Cthulhu or other horror games....

(The first 3 tables all owe a debt to Cthulhu Gloom--thank you, Keith)

Characters (d20)

1, Obsessive mathematician
2, Insane scientist
3, Woman of easy leisure
4, Haunted poet
5, Secretive librarian
6, Unwholesome child
7, Homicidal mother
8, Sorcerer
9, Untrammeled and upright crusader for the good
10, Prodigal heir
11, Doctor who performed a lot of unnecessary surgery
12, Citizens touched by glimpses of a world beyond our own
13, Hissing visionary
14, A man of considerable political influence
15, Cat or other apathetic pet
16, Fatally curious curator
17, Unfortunate individual in the midst of a transformation
18, Painter of unspeakable vistas
19, Recently returned archaeologist
20, Drunk who drinks to kill the visions

Strange Deaths (d20)

1, Missing an organ entirely
2, Slain by an artwork
3, Slain by reading the wrong book
4, Killed by a pack of otherwise nonaggressive animals
5, Suicide by fire
6, Disappeared on an expedition or vacation
7, Cannibalised
8, Automutilation
9, Slain by something from Elsewhere
10, Dead but still communicates with the living
11, Corpse continues screaming after death
12, Refused some basic human necessity until starvation, thirst, etc took over
13, Died peacefully but something unholy was done to the remains
14, Taken to another dimension/planet
15, Crushed flat
16, Wasted away, distracted
17, One day, simply gone
18, Died of terror
19, Died trapped behind, beneath, within something
20, Performed a ritual, it went awry

Things (d100)

1, University
2, Visionary artworks
3, Occult rituals
4, A creature humankind was not meant to gaze upon
5, A grave
6, A tome
7, An object with unseemly geometry
8, Acquisition of academic status
9, New England
10, Psychoanalysis
11, A delirium
12, Fungi
13, Animals behaving strangely
14, Subhumans
15, Nightmares
16, Possession by remnants of events long past
17, Invisible things
18, Swarms
19, Dopplegangers or doubles
20, Inebriation
21, Paranoia
22, A sanitarium
23, Mutation
24, An archaeological expedition
25, Returning from a trip to a remote location insane
26, A journey by water
27, Paranoia about something harmless and ubiquitous
28, Terrible sounds that don't stop
29, A bizarre inheritance or gift
30, A small town where nothing is right
31, Unwanted knowledge
32, A library
33, A wild place
34, Architecture beyond human ken
35, Antiquarian book collector
36, A cult
37, Correspondences or phone calls
38, A maze or mazelike place
39, A seemingly blank and meaningless vista which holds strange fascination
40, A creepy feast
41, A diary
42, Dreams of improper pleasures
43, An heir or heiress
44, Cannibalism
45, Disturbing ancestry
46, Terrified retreat
47, Amnesia
48, A battle with unknown forces
49, A sound, color, texture or other sensation never before known to humans
50, An obscure religious insight
51, One of us becomes one of them
52, A boarding house or hotel of ill repute
53, Hallucinations
54, Tentacles
55, Crimes form a geometric pattern
56, Lunatic as the only source of useful information
57, Nonverbal communication
58, Evil police
59, Sumeria
60, Minor typographical errors prevent the incantation from working
61, Photos or drawings purporting to be the same subject that aren't
62, A recipe
63, Drugs
64, A name that can't be remembered no matter how hard anyone tries
65. Tears with unusual properties
66, Blood with unusual properties
67, The compulsion to repeat a past incident
68, Intelligent archtiecture
69, Skin as a creative or structural medium
70, The same day repeats
71, The night does not end
72, Triggered by the moon
73, Astronomical readings that make no sense
74, Two minds in one body
75, Many minds in one body
76, Premature rot
77, Ancient knowledge in a young vessel
78, Music made with instruments that can't be identified
79, Paralysis
80, Tarot cards
81, Spitting
82, Human sacrifice
83, Collection of obscure ingredients
84, Preparation for obscure circumstances (eclipse, solstice, the marriage of a 7th son to a 6th daughter)
85, Bones as tools
86, Shadows as threats
87, Poisoned garments
88, Emotions, thoughts or memories in liquid or commestible form
89, Purification
90, Coded messages in maps or scale models
91, Eyes where there should not be eyes
92, Fetuses or larvae
93, A great public spectacle ruined
94, The victims all had a...
95, It was once a man, and looked far less grotesque in the Monster Manual picture
96, It was once a woman, and looked far less grotesque in the Fiend Folio picture
97, A party member feels suddenly compelled to... every time you roll a....
98, Skin or hair or teeth or nerves or bones or something missing. Yet it lives.
99, Such a fine mind. So damaged.
00, Teratophilia

Personal Horror--Today's horror derives from... (roll random PC, then roll d8 below)

1. PCs highest high stat or lowest low stat, whichever is most extreme. Low app? Their ugliness is the basis for the horror. High int? They've learned something you'll wish they didn't...

2. Your place of education. Where did they learn all these damn skills? And what did they learn about? This is where the horror starts.

3. Occupation. The horror approaches via the PC's job. Driving a cab? It's in the cab. Or it's the cab.

4. Birthplace. The horror was born where they were. Its nature is, perhaps, derived from the nature of that place.

5. Age. The horror is a horror associated with their specific era, or, if you are very young or old then horror's nature may have to do with youth or age. If you can't get any juice out of that, roll again, but this time base the horror not on the PC's characteristic but on the player's characteristic.

6. Skills. The horror derives from the world evoked by the PC's best skill. Physics? Prepare to face a gravity creature. Drive Auto? Christine. Shotgun? Whatever it is, it shoots back.

7. Psychic abilities. Whatever force the PC's psionic ability is derived from, the enemy emanates from the same place. (This only works if the PC's have acquired spells in play or if you're playing  Chill Of Cthulhu. Treat this as 8 below otherwise.)

8. Whatever's left. During Call of Cthulhu's robust period of character creation, you've established one or two things about the PCs besides what's above: personal style, home, ethnic background. Use that.

She rolled a 2

See also Occult Tomes here and maybe random contemporary objects here.

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